City: CDC will assume COVID-19 operations in Amarillo, Moore County

David Gay @DavidGayAGN

Saturday

May 2, 2020 at 4:44 PM

The city of Amarillo announced Saturday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be assuming operations of the COVID-19 outbreak in Amarillo, with Potter and Randall counties, as well as Moore County.

According to a news release from the city, this measure taken by the CDC is due to the meatpacking industry in the area serving as hotspots for the virus.

As of Saturday, there are a total of 893 active cases of COVID-19 in Potter and Randall counties, according to the public health department’s report card. This is an increase of 96 cases from Friday.

With 131 recoveries, as well as 12 deaths, the total number of reported COVID-19 cases is now 1,036. A total of 4,963 conducted tests have been reported to the public health department, with 458 of those still pending.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, there are 363 current cases of the virus in Moore County as of Saturday. There are also five deaths related to the virus in Moore County.

Amarillo Public Health Director Casie Stoughton said during Friday’s COVID-19 news conference that 41 percent of the positive cases in the area are related to this industry.

Kevin Starbuck, the assistant city manager for the city of Amarillo, said during a Saturday afternoon news conference, the initial state and federal response will be focused on the Tyson Plant in the Amarillo area and the JBS Swift Plant in Moore County.

In addition, officials leading the response will reach out to all the meatpacking plants in the Texas Panhandle, Starbuck said, to identify best practices outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In a video posted Saturday on Mayor Ginger Nelson’s public Facebook page, she said the CDC’s team will be arriving in Amarillo Sunday or Monday, bringing resources and strategies they have used in other meatpacking plants across the country to slow the spread and get control of the virus.

"Our situation has their full attention, and that’s a good thing," Nelson said during the Saturday afternoon news conference. "They are bringing strategies and supplies both from the state level and also from the federal level to address our needs here in the Texas Panhandle."

According to the news release, the CDC will implement similar strategies developed in addressing the meatpacking industry in Colorado.

There are two components to these strategies and supplies, Nelson said. The first is focusing on the safety for those who work in the meatpacking industries, as well as those who have gotten the virus due to community spread. This will bring extra testing kits and hospital supplies to maximize hospital capacity to care for those people.

The second component is the food supply itself, Nelson said.

"In order to keep those plants open, the USDA is going to be working with us and analyzing what we need to keep the food supply going," Nelson said.

The CDC will encompass all of Amarillo in its strategy to stop the community spread that came from these plants, Nelson said.

"Amarillo, I hope that brings you as much peace of mind as it does me, to know that our elected officials at the state level and at the federal level are engaged in our problem," Nelson said, "and they are helping us craft a strategy and bringing us the resources that we need in order to stop and slow the spread of the outbreak."

Because of these new strategies and resources, Nelson said there is expected to be increased testing capacity in the next few days. The city could see testing numbers double in one week.

But with the increased testing capacity means that there will be an increased number of positives in the community, Nelson said.

"We have a tremendous amount of testing equipment coming our way. That means we are going to increase our testing capacity in the next one to two weeks, and that means we will see our positive numbers continue to go up," she said. "But it’s logical, and we understand why. That increased information is going to lead to increased supplies, resources and strategies to help us fight what’s happening here in our city."

Nelson said during the Saturday conference that details are developing on what these strategies and increased amounts of resources will look like in Amarillo.

Starbuck said this aid will accompany the aid requested by the city from the state earlier this month regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the federal aid, Starbuck said the city has an initial idea of the amount of some of the resources the city will receive.

"One example was 55,000 cloth masks that will be deployed to persons associated with hotspots where we are doing a more significant investigation in those areas," Starbuck said. "That shipment is already in motion and will arrive (Sunday). That gives you an indication of how quickly the federal response is to providing us resources here in Amarillo and in the Texas Panhandle to progress the situation."

During a recent phone call with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Nelson said Abbott advised citizens to continue to remain at home, and when they do go out in the community, to continue wearing a mask.

With this new situation, Abbott’s recent executive order, allowing some businesses to be open with a maximum capacity of 25 percent, continues to be in place in the area, Nelson said.

"As far as I know right now, we are still under the governor’s orders," Nelson said.

Nelson encourages members of the Texas Panhandle community to be comforted that this pandemic situation is being worked on by all levels of the government.

"The federal and the state government have told us that we will have access to the resources we need in order to address the problem," Nelson said. "I take a lot of comfort from that."

The city’s next COVID-19 news conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday. For more information on the city’s response to COVID-19, visit www.amarilloalerts.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.